Apricotton As Seen On Dragons’ Den | How To Get On (Our Audition)

January 02, 2025

By: Chloe Beaudoin

To keep things real with you, we’re sharing all of the behind the scenes of what it’s like to go on Dragons’ Den (Canada’s Shark Tank)!

It took us 3 whole years, but we finally made it onto Dragons’ Den. If you’re not sure how to or if you should even try to get onto Dragons’ Den, we’re going to share exactly how we got onto the show on the third try.

Our episode airs on January 2, 2025 at 8pm EST. You can watch the episode here.

why Dragons’ Den?

We’ve been watching Dragons’ Den since Season 1! We’ve been dreaming of being on the show since before we even started Apricotton 😇.

But there’s a reason why so many brands go on Dragons’ Den (or Shark Tank, or any of the other variations of the show). Here are the reasons why we went on:

Grow Awareness: Dragons’ Den episodes get millions of views per season, and even uploads full episodes and each company’s segments online - which can boost website traffic especially during the air time
Increase Reputation: After you’ve appeared on Dragons’ Den, you can utilize its very recognizable branding in promotional materials to improve potential customers’ trust
Receive Investment: The Dragons are some of the most recognizable investors in Canada, and are great to have on your cap table. We speak more on this later but please note that not all deals go through even if you accept a deal on the show. You may also want to renegotiate terms.

application process

Our application process was very straightforward. We’ve always applied in the fall, but applications are typically open from fall to early winter and only take a few minutes to complete. Be very honest during this process, however, you’ll be able to make changes if you move onto the next stage (i.e., we changed our valuation after we made it to auditions).

You’ll also need to film a 30-60 second pitch. Instead of doing our typical pitch, we tailored it to make it more exciting for viewers, rather than investors. We wore big smiles and cranked up our energy for our 60 second pitch so we could really stand out. We refilmed the pitch every time we reapplied, but kept the pitch mainly the same.

All three times that we applied, we made it to the audition stage.

audition process (1st & 2nd try)

They usually hold auditions sometime in February. Our first audition in 2022 was via Zoom. We did our same 60 second pitch, then did a short demo, then the producer asked us some questions about our company. We didn’t hear back from them after that…

On our second try in 2023, we were asked to audition in person in the CBC building in Toronto. They said to prepare a short pitch, short demo, then leave around 30 minutes for questions. We prepped a lot more this time by creating a document with all of the potential questions the producers could ask us. On audition day, we dressed up in fancy dresses and heels to stand out while showcasing that Apricotton is a teen-focused cool brand. We were told by producers that the line would be shorter at the end of the day, so we arrived 1 hour before the end of auditions. There was only one company ahead of us. We registered then only waited about 30 minutes before getting called by one of the producers.

One key element to our pitch was showing a video of Arlene Dickinson saying Apricotton was a company she’d invest in, while judging us at a different pitch competition at the end of our presentation. However, after flawlessly executing our pitch and demo, Jessica realized she forgot her laptop in her bag, so she went running for it so she could show it to the producers. Jessica was convinced her mishap was the reason we didn’t get on (spoiler alert: it wasn’t).

We then were asked very common investment questions - Who is your target market? Why do you need the investment? As well as some Dragon specific questions, including which dragon we wanted to receive investment from and what our display would look like.

Although the audition went well, we did not hear back from the producers.

application & audition tips

Practice your pitch and demo in advance, including your movements and intonation. They don’t time your pitch so it’s okay if it’s slightly over/under 60 seconds.
Watch Dragons’ Den episodes and write down common questions the producers could ask you.
Figure out what your display may look like in advance.
Make sure you know your numbers (Revenue, CAC, LTV, etc.).
Remember this is for tv - ensure you’re energetic throughout your audition and find ways to make yourself stand out.

how we finally made it (3rd try)

In 2024, we decided this would be the last year we audition. We applied, made it to auditions and prepared the exact same way as the previous year, hoping that our increased revenue would help us make it on this time.

We ended up getting paired with the same producer as the following year. After our pitch and demo, she finally told us why we didn’t make it on the show previously - we were too focused on talking about our teen market, but they were more interested in our mom market as their viewers skew older. She worked with us to figure out how we could modify our pitch and demo to cater it more to the Dragons’ Den audience.

We didn’t hear back for months and assumed we hadn’t made it on. But then, 3 weeks before our taping, we finally got a call.

how we prepared for filming

As exciting as the call was, it was horrible timing. We only had 3 weeks to prepare, but Jessica was flying to Paris for a brand trip and Chloe was flying to Vancouver for a pitch competition. This meant we realistically had less than 1 week to prep.

The first issue was that we needed a display and had no time or budget to make one. Thankfully, the Dragons’ Den team offered to build our display for us, given our constraints.

The second issue was that by the time we got back from our respective trips, we only had 2 days to meet in person to practice our pitch, demo and Q&A. We spent these 48 hours at Chloe’s house practicing and filming ourselves so we could see exactly how we looked. We especially practiced the demo to ensure our bras looked their absolute best. We also watched Dragons’ Den episodes with similar products and added these questions to our Q&A document.

Within this time frame, we also bought matching dresses and wore our nicest heels to once again showcase our teen branding and stand out from the usual “black t-shirt with our logo”. We also added our Apricotton logo to the dresses so our brand name would show up even if they did close ups.

Despite all of our prep work, we were still very nervous and felt completely unprepared to film.

filming day

Our call time was 8am. After the travel jet lag and the non-stop running around trying to prepare for filming day (including having to steam 60 bras for our display the night before), an early morning just added to our stress. We were responsible for our own hair and makeup, so we got up extra early to get ready and make sure we had everything we needed to bring (TY $800 Sephora Haul 🤣).

We arrived at the CBC building and went into a massive room with the other companies filming that day and our displays. We were informed that we had about 20min to finish setting up our display - and that’s when Jessica got her period (like are you fr 🥲).

Chloe tried to scramble to finish putting the bras on the display, but by the time she finished, the producers were going around to give the final okay. We were immediately told to remove the “Apricotton” sign from our display (that we spent so much money and time making??) and to rearrange the bras. After some more scrambling, they took our display away and we had to just wait around until we got called. Filming times change constantly, so they wouldn’t tell us when we’d be going into the den. During this time, we continued practicing our pitch, but the waiting was making our nerves worse.

After an hour of waiting, we were the second company to be called up. Our producer (attempted to) help us relax, but when we got backstage, all of the nerves came flooding back.

However, as soon as we walked into the den, we put back on our big smiles and perfectly executed the pitch we had practiced so many times. During the demo, the dragons had great things to say about our bras (thank you for the great soundbites...). After all of the Q&A practice, we were able to answer their questions with ease. When we reached the investment stage, our smiles were completely real. We were over the moon with our segment.

As we walked off, we could not stop smiling. The 3 years of auditions were finally worth it.

filming tips

There are a lot of changes on filming day. Your filming time, display and even pitch could change at any moment, so you need to be flexible.
Even though you’re trying to get investment, you also want to sell your company to the viewers. Prep some key phrases you want the Dragons to say about your brand/product and how you can prompt them to say them.
Film yourself giving the pitch and demo when you’re practicing so you can see exactly how you look and if you want to make adjustments.

what’s next?

We filmed back in May 2024, but our episode airs January 2, 2025. Now that our nerves are gone, we can sit back with our friends and family and host a viewing party for our episode.

If you’re interested in applying for Dragons’ Den or have previously been rejected, we highly recommend auditioning!

You can watch our full Dragons' Den segment here 🥰.